Cary A. Moskovitz, Senior Lecturing Fellow and director, Writing in the Disciplines
University Writing Program

Project Description

Cary Moskovitz has been using the concept of “think aloud” responses in his writing courses, getting professionals in various fields at Duke to record comments and feedback on student papers. Students gain valuable insight from a reader familiar with the subject area of the paper and gain a better sense of ownership of their writing in a “real world” situation.

To build on the success of this approach in his own courses, Moskovitz is now cooperating with the Duke Alumni Association to introduce this method into Writing in the Disciplines courses, by locating Duke alumni residing around the United States to serve as readers in three classes in Economics, History and Chemistry in Spring 2008.

During Fall 2007, Moskovitz will use CIT funding to explore the technologies which will be used to implement the full project in Spring 2008. Readers will use a webcam-assisted teleconference to virtually “meet” with their student partners, and web-based audio recording software to record a “think aloud” response on a student paper in the course. Students will be able to use the readers’ feedback to edit and improve their writing based on this professional input. The CIT is consulting on technology approaches, documentation for the volunteer readers and students, and evaluation of the project.

Project Started: 8/15/2007
Funding: $1,000 (Fall 2007)

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Victoria Szabo, Program Director for Information Science + Information Studies, Arts & Sciences

Project description

This project will support the development and exploration of teaching and learning in Second Life. Objects are being developed and explored during the summer for use in Fall courses. In the Fall, Second Life will be used in Focus 99.09: Special Topics in Focus: Virtual Realities. Students will explore the tool to build a gallery environment consisting of work done in the four courses of the cluster. In the course of this project, the value of Second Life as a teaching and learning tool will be assessing in three specific areas:

• Second Life’s effectiveness as a project display medium
• Second Life’s value as a hands-on exploration of metaverses and virtual worlds
• Second Life’s as agent for collaborative work among students.

The Second Life environment for the class will be demonstrated to the Parent and Students Weekend fair in the Bryan Center and available as a semi-permanent gallery space for others to visit when the semester ends. Second Life will continue to be explored in several courses during Spring 2008.

Project start date: 5/4/2007
Funding awarded: $ 2,500

More information:

Focus Cluster on Virtual Realities

Course descriptions

Project wiki

Second Life at Duke

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Rochelle Schwartz-Bloom, Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Professor of Neurobiology, Professor of Biological Psychiatry Director, Undergraduate Studies in Pharmacology, Director, RISE (Raising Interest in Science Education)
Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, School of Medicine

Project Description

The objective of this project is to develop a 3D virtual model of drug action at the molecular level that can be used in teaching undergraduates in Pharmacology 150. An interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students will work together to develop a molecular model of a basic pharmacologic principle such as drug action at a receptor-gated ion channel (an appropriate example could be alcohol binding at the GABA-gated chloride channel to produce intoxication). They will use the Visualization Lab and DiVE Tank to create a virtual 3D model as well as a 3D web-based version that can be used online.

The interdisciplinary team will also learn how to apply evaluation methodologies to assess the effectiveness of the instructional tool on student learning.

Project start date: 5/4/2007
Funding awarded: $ 6,500

Additional information:

Duke University Visualization Technology Group

DiVE Tank

RISE (Raising Interest in Science Education)

Other projects by Pharmacology 150

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Anathea Portier-Young, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Duke Divinity School

Project Description

Portier-Young applied to the CIT for funding to adapt a publicly available 3D model of the ancient Israelite Tabernacle and Temple for for viewing in the Duke Immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE), by students in her course “Introduction to Old Testament Interpretation.” Portier-Young wanted students to better understand the design of the site and its use in worship activities by seeing the site on a full scale “virtual” tour.

The Virtual Tabernacle is a model of a key worship site used by the ancient Israelites; the model allows the user to see the layout of the site and explore it as a “walkthrough.” Since there is only minimal evidence in original texts about the site’s layout and construction, the model provided a starting point for discussions about interpretation of Old Testament texts.

Student assistants working with the DiVE director adapted the existing 3D model for the display equipment in the facility. In addition, funding was provided for a student assistant to handle the logistics of testing the model and taking the 170 students in the course on the tour in small groups.

All of the students in Portier-Young’s class viewed the tour and several faculty from the Divinity School examined the model to consider using it in their own courses. Portier-Young developed a survey instrument for individuals who viewed the model. The survey results indicated that the students felt the model increased their comprehension of the ancient site and how it was used; viewing the model in an immersive environment allowed the students to see the actual scale of the site and gain a deeper understanding of the site’s components and explore open questions about how worship would have been conducted, based on evidence in the Old Testament texts.

Project start date: 1/25/2007
Funding awarded: $3,325

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Peter Malin, Professor, Earth & Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment & Earth Sciences

Project description

EOS223S is an open, interdisciplinary elective in Nicholas School which satisfies a seminar requirement of Trinity undergrads; it includes topics in geology, engineering, energy, environment, and policy. The course focused on the actual conditions and plans for a US national high-level nuclear waste deposit in Yucca Mountain, Nevada, through a guided field trip to the Yucca Mountain site. Pre-field trip classes included lectures on Yucca Mountain geology and student-prepared seminars/posters on specific aspects of Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste disposal. Geology requires students to visualize both scales and complex three dimensional relationships from 2 dimensional maps, which is particularly difficult for non-majors. The Duke Immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE Tank) provided three dimensional visualization of the geology and subsurface engineering, and an interactive way to explore the scale of the field site.

By the end of the course, students stated that the use of the 3-D Visualization before the field trip helped to frame the spatial relationships between sediment layers, faults, and topography. The students were asked write a position paper on the integrated geological, economic, and social aspects of the proposed site and state their position on its licensing using the graphical evidence. Their papers showed that they achieved most of the following goals: they referenced appropriate data bases of existing documents, and related these materials to the actual scales lengths, including time, space, economic, social, and political dimensions associated with the potential site and its use.

Project start date: May 26, 2006
Funding awarded: $5,000

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Anathea Portier-Young, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Duke Divinity School

Project Description

For the course “Introduction to Old Testament Interpretation,” Portier-Young proposed technology based activities to enhance student learning in this core course (enrollment 170), required for all incoming Divinity students. She wished to create a Blackboard-based group activity for students to collaboratively write about course topics, and to digitize a set of images for use in course materials and lectures. In addition, she wished to explore use of a personal response system in class lectures and use the DiVE visualization facility to view Old Testament-related locations.

Portier-Young sucessfully arranged the installation of a PRS in her classroom with coordination between the CIT, A&SIST and her local support staff. Her teaching assistants, with training from the CIT, successfully managed a group activity in which student groups collaboratively authored wiki pages about course topics that could be shared with and expanded by future classes.

Due to time constraints, image digitization was postponed, but the CIT researched several possible 3D models that could be viewed in the DiVE and Portier-Young learned about the facility and the process for converting models for viewing in the DiVE.

Portier-Young reported that the use of the PRS and wiki activity as successful. Encouraged by the potential of viewing 3D models in the DiVE, she submitted a follow-up Jump Start grant request to fully fund conversion of a model for the DiVE and its use in her class.
Project start date: 5/24/2006
Funding awarded: $0

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